Abstract
Research into the pre-hospital care of paediatric patients is scant and has been poorly developed when compared to advances in research focused on pre-hospital emergency care of the adult patient. Additionally, the majority of research has been done primarily in high-income environments, thus developing solutions that may not be suitable for use in a low to middle-income environment like South Africa. The phenomenon of managing paediatric emergencies in the pre-hospital environment within the South African setting is poorly researched. What are the emergency care personnel experiencing when they are confronted by a paediatric emergency? Currently, there is a paucity of locally generated research exploring and describing the range and shared meaning of these experiences. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of emergency care personnel when managing paediatric emergencies in the pre-hospital environment. This study used a qualitative research design in the form of descriptive phenomenology, whereby ten purposively sampled participants voluntarily consented to one-on-one interviews. Data were transcribed and data analysis was conducted with the use of established coding techniques. This process was carried out using an inductive approach, where consensus via commonly emerging themes in the raw data was applied. Trustworthiness was ensured using accepted methods including data triangulation, data saturation, researcher positioning, audit trails, member checking and independent coding/re-coding...
M.Cur. (Emergency Medical Care)